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Abstract:

The application relates to a composition comprising: from about 10 parts
to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts to about 90 parts of
steepwater by volume.

Claims:

1. A composition comprising: from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of
hydrol and from about 60 parts to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

2. The composition of claim 1, consisting essentially of: from about 10
parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts to about 90
parts of steepwater by volume.

3. The composition of claim 2, consisting of: from about 10 parts to
about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts to about 90 parts of
steepwater by volume.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the amount by volume of hydrol is
from about 10 parts to about 35 parts and the amount of steepwater is
from about 75 parts to about 90 parts.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the amount by volume of hydrol is
from about 10 parts to about 30 parts and the amount of steepwater is
from about 70 parts to about 90 parts.

6. The composition of claim 4, wherein the amount by volume of hydrol is
from about 20 parts to about 35 parts and the amount of steepwater is
from about 75 parts to about 80 parts.

7. The composition of claim 5, wherein the amount by volume of hydrol is
from about 20 parts to about 30 parts and the amount of steepwater is
from about 70 parts to about 80 parts.

8. The composition of claim 7, wherein the amount by volume of hydrol is
about 30 parts and the amount of steepwater is about 70 parts.

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein the steepwater is heavy
steepwater.

10. A process comprising mixing together: from about 10 parts to about 40
parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts to about 90 parts of steepwater
by volume.

11. The process of claim 10, comprising mixing together: from about 10
parts to about 30 parts of hydrol and from about 70 parts to about 90
parts of steepwater by volume.

11. An animal feed comprising: from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of
hydrol and from about 60% to about 90% of steepwater by volume.

12. The animal feed of claim 12, comprising: from about 10 parts to about
30 parts of hydrol and from about 70 parts to about 90 parts of
steepwater by volume.

Description:

INTRODUCTION

[0001] Liquid feed supplements for animals have been used for many years
in the United States. These are often made by combining a protein
(nitrogen) source and a carbohydrate source. An economical protein source
for liquid feed is the agricultural processing by-product corn
steepwater. An economical carbohydrate source for liquid feed is the
agricultural processing by-product hydrol. Both are prone to partial
crystallization or phase separation, particularly during cold weather.
These are typically shipped separately to the farmer and mixed
immediately prior to use.

[0002] Corn steepwater is a byproduct of the initial stages of wet milling
of corn. In conventional wet milling, corn is steeped, i.e. soaked in
0.1-0.3% aqueous sulfur dioxide solution, at 48-55° C. for 28 to
72 hours. In water, the sodium dioxide form sulfurous acid, which
controls fermentation and softens the corn kernel. Steeping of corn aids
in the separation the various components of corn such as starch and
nutrients. The softened corn is then separated into germ, gluten, fiber,
starch, and light steepwater. The light steepwater contains between 6-9%
solids by weight. The light steepwater is then evaporated until it
contains 40-60% solids to form heavy corn steepwater or corn steep
liquor.

[0003] Approximately 5-9 gallons of water per bushel of corn is added
during the process. Approximately one-third of the water is absorbed by
the corn during the steeping, and the other two-thirds is present as
light steepwater. Steepwater provides a relatively inexpensive starting
material that includes a number of nutrients that are utilized as an
ingredient in animal feed and for fermentation applications. The primary
use of corn steep liquor is as a nutrient for ruminant animals. Corn
steep liquor provides proteins, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, reducing
sugars (such as dextrose), organic acids (in particular lactic acid),
enzymes, and elemental nutrients such as nitrogen. The majority of corn
steep liquor produced is immediately added to corn gluten and fibrous
materials for use as animal feed.

[0004] Corn steep liquor is also used by the pharmaceuticals industry in
the production of antibiotics. In 1941 Dr. Andrew Moyer at the Northern
Regional Laboratory of the USDA discovered by that replacing the usual
artificial medium used to grow the penicillin mold by corn steepwater and
lactose increased the yield of penicillin from two units per mL, which
was too small to be commercially practicable, to one hundred units per
mL.

[0006] In one aspect, the application provides a composition comprising:
from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts
to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0007] In one aspect, the application provides a composition comprising:
from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60 parts
to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0008] In one aspect, the application provides a composition consisting
essentially of: from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from
about 60 parts to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0009] In one aspect, the application provides a composition consisting
of: from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60
parts to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0010] In one embodiment, the amount by volume of hydrol is from about 10
parts to about 35 parts and the amount of steepwater is from about 75
parts to about 90 parts.

[0011] In one embodiment, the amount by volume of hydrol is from about 10
parts to about 30 parts and the amount of steepwater is from about 70
parts to about 90 parts.

[0012] In one embodiment, the amount by volume of hydrol is from about 20
parts to about 35 parts and the amount of steepwater is from about 75
parts to about 80 parts.

[0013] In one embodiment, the amount by volume of hydrol is from about 20
parts to about 30 parts and the amount of steepwater is from about 70
parts to about 80 parts.

[0014] In one embodiment, the amount by volume of hydrol is about 30 parts
and the amount of steepwater is about 70 parts.

[0015] In one embodiment, the steepwater is heavy steepwater.

[0016] In one aspect, the application provides a process comprising mixing
together: from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about
60 parts to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0017] In one embodiment, the application provides a process comprising
mixing together: from about 10 parts to about 30 parts of hydrol and from
about 70 parts to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0018] In one aspect, the application provides animal feed comprising:
from about 10 parts to about 40 parts of hydrol and from about 60% to
about 90% of steepwater by volume.

[0019] In one embodiment, the application provides animal feed comprising:
from about 10 parts to about 30 parts of hydrol and from about 70 parts
to about 90 parts of steepwater by volume.

[0020] Although both hydrol and heavy steepwater are aqueous, they can
form separate phases as shown below. Both materials are polydisperse
systems, i.e. the colloidal particles are not precisely identical to each
other, but have a range of radii, surface charges, shapes, etc). They
consist of a large number of different molecular species best described
as having continuously varying properties across each family of
molecules. All these materials are therefore polydisperse. Hydrol and
heavy steepwater contain particles with properties depending continuously
on one or several parameters. It is not possible to predict the number of
phases in such systems because the Gibbs phase rule allows for an
infinite number of phases in polydisperse systems. Nor is it possible to
predict the conditions where phase separation will occur. As stated by
Peter Sollich in "Predicting Phase Equilibria in Polydisperse Systems",
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14 (2002) R79-R117, "the challenge in
predicting polydisperse phase equilibria arises from the effectively
infinite number of conserved densities. This renders the standard
approaches developed for mixtures with a finite number of species
useless."

DEFINITIONS

[0021] The following definitions are used in connection with the compounds
of the present application unless the context indicates otherwise. As
used herein, the term, "corn steep liquor" means the brownish material
with a pudding like consistency made by the concentration of light
steepwater. "Corn steep liquor" typically ranges from about 45% to about
55% dry matter with an average of 53% dry matter. With the partial
fermentation that occurs in the steeping process, lactic acid is produced
which lowers the pH of "corn steep liquor" to a value from about 3.8 to
about 4.1. Typical "corn steep liquor" has a dry solid content of about
48% and a density of 10.25 lb/gallon. The non-aqueous material in "corn
steep liquor" include about 44% protein, 35% nitrogen-free extract, 23%
lactic acid, 19% inorganic material, 10% sugars, and a variety of amino
acids

[0022] As used herein, the term "dextrose" means the simple sugar glucose.
As used herein, the term "dextrine" means any one, or the mixture, of the
water-soluble, intermediate polysaccharides formed during the hydrolysis
of starch to sugar.

[0023] As used herein, the term "hydrol" means the mother liquor or
residual corn syrup from the purification, usually by crystallization or
chromatographic separation, of dextrose obtained in the production of
glucose by the hydrolysis of starch. Hydrol syrup has the following
approximate composition: dextrose 60%, dextrine 20%, and water 20%. A
typical density of hydrol is 11.25 lb/gal.

[0024] As used herein, the term, "steepwater" includes all varieties of
water that are removed from the corn after steeping. For example, one
variety of steepwater is "light steepwater" which contains the soluble
materials (including protein, amino acids, sugars, and phytate)
originating from the corn kernel and fermentation products (mainly lactic
acid and ethanol) produced from the fermentation of corn solubles during
steeping. Typical light steepwater has a dry solid content of about
8-12%. Another variety of steep-water is "heavy steepwater" or "corn
steep liquor".

[0025] Certain specific aspects and embodiments of the present application
will be explained in greater detail with reference to the following
examples, which are provided only for purposes of illustration and should
not be construed as limiting the scope of the application in any manner.
Reasonable variations of the described procedures are intended to be
within the scope of the present invention. While particular aspects of
the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be
obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and
modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims
all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this
invention.

Examples

[0026] Samples of hydrol and steepwater were mixed in the volume ratios
given in Table 1 to make samples of approximately 100-400 mL total
volume. The samples were mixed at room temperature for one hour using a
shaker-type mixer. One hour after the mixing ended, any phase separation
was noted.

[0027] The pH and the percentage of dry substance (DS) in each batch were
also measured at this time using an Accumet AR15 pH probe and an ISMA-M55
HB43 Halogen moisture analyzer, respectively. The dry substance
measurement was done at 90° C. The results are given in Table 2.

[0028] Twenty four hours after the completion of stirring, the amount of
dry substance in samples of selected batches was determined as above. The
results are shown in Table 3. As can be seen, in the homogeneous sample
there was a slight decrease in the measured dry substance, while in the
two nonhomogeneous samples there was a slight increase.

[0029] Four days after the completion of the stirring, the amount of dry
substance in two of the batches was measured again. The results are shown
in Table 4. This time, there was a slight decrease in the total dry
substance in the inhomogeneous sample while the homogenous sample was
unchanged.

[0030] Six days after the completion of stirring, the amount of dry
substance in samples of seven batches was determined as above. The
results are shown in Table 5. As can be seen, in both the homogeneous
samples and inhomogeneous sample there was a decrease in the total dry
substance.

[0031] Pure cane sugar, 1142 corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup 55, 1652
corn syrup, and molasses were blended in various ratios with steepwater
and observations were made with respect to subsequent phase separation.
Some variation was present in the amount of dissolved solids (% DS) in
the steepwater and is captured for reference in Table 6. Typical
specifications are included in Table 7 for the syrup products used for
blending. These were compared to the unique behavior of the
hydrol/steepwater blend.

With pure sugar and steepwater: 30/70, the steepwater mixture turned to a
tar substance that slugged instead of poured 40/60, same as the 30/70
mixture, sugar crystals sat on top of the mixture 60/40, the sugar took
over the steepwater and began to chunk as is sat over a period of almost
two weeks 20/80, the steepwater over took the sugar, but the sugar
created a crystal layer on top of the steepwater. With high fructose corn
syrup and steepwater: 30/70, the fructose did not mix at all with the
steepwater, it created a layer on top of the steepwater a day after
settling 40/60, same as the 30/70, turned into a tar substance with a
layer on top 60/40, still a large separation area between the steepwater
and the fructose 20/80, even with a small amount of fructose used; there
is still a layer of fructose settled on top of the steepwater. With
molasses/steepwater; all of the samples smelled very sweet from the
molasses: 30/70, the molasses mixed with the steepwater but then created
a thick sludge and smelled very sweet 40/60, not as thick as the 30/70
mixture, actually poured from the cup a lot smoother 60/40, not as thick
as the 30/70 but it started to ferment after sitting for a week 20/80,
started to ferment, possibly the steepwater was to blame for this sample
With 1652 corn syrup and steepwater: 30/70, sample mixed well, had a
small thin layer of oil on top after settling for a week. The sample
smelled sweet, but not as strong as the molasses sample 40/60, same as
the 30/70 mixture 60/40, the 1652 corn syrup settled at the bottom of the
sample cup. The steepwater sat on top and began to ferment 20/80,
steepwater overtook the 1652 corn syrup and created an oil layer after
settling for over a week. With 1142 corn syrup and steepwater: 30/70, the
sample mixed, but had a fermented smell to it. An oil layer was also
created on the top of the steepwater 40/60, the sample mixed the same as
a 30/70 mixture. Still had a ferment smell and oil layer on top of the
sample 60/40, the sample gelatinized and made a hard block in the center
of the sample 20/80, all of the corn syrup added sat on top of the
steepwater sample.

[0033] Additionally, two samples were held in refrigeration for 4 months;
one sample was comprised of 70% steepwater and 30% hydrol, and the other
was comprised of 70% steepwater and 30% molasses to replicate a typical
commercial liquid feed supplement. After 4 months, the 70% steepwater and
30% hydrol blend showed some phase separation and some crystallization
near the bottom of the sample jar, but remained fluid. The competitor
replica showed substantial phase separation and crystallization, and was
not fluid enough to pour.

[0034] Throughout this application, various publications are referenced.
The disclosures of these publications in their entireties are hereby
incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully
describe the state of the art as known to those skilled therein as of the
date of the application described and claimed herein.

[0035] While particular embodiments of the present application have been
illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the
art that various other changes and modifications can be made without
departing from the spirit and scope of the application. It is therefore
intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and
modifications that are within the scope of this application.